Our friend Ron Edmondson had a great post this morning: 3 Questions to Write a Personal Development Plan.
It's not easy to create a Personal Development Plan. Well, it's easy, but not everyone does it.
Leaders, let's help each other out here - share with us: What is your Personal Development Plan? Take two minutes & share parts of it in the comments below. Do it.
Remember, if you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time.
(FULL DISCLOSURE: at this point in the blog, I should share my personal development plan. I have no specific plan. A weakness I need to work on. Help me by sharing yours in the comments below. :)
Putting this out for everyone to see is a bit nerve racking, but here goes. Here’s my PDP for the next 3 months.
Josh Hanson
Personal Development Plan
July-Sep 2010
BIBLE READING
1. Bible reading with small groups (30-60 chapters a week)
2. In-depth study of Ephesians
BOOK READING
1. Calvin – Institutes
2. Cole – Church 3.0
3. Grudem – Gift of Prophecy
4. Wallace – Atoning Death of Christ
5. Hirsch – ReJesus
6. Stearns – Hole in our Gospel
7. Robertson – Christ of the Covenants
8. Emlet – Cross Talk
9. Jones – The New Christians
10. Covey – Principle Centered Leadership
11. Gergen – Eye Witness to Power
12. Covey – 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
13. Parsons – John Calvin
EVANGELISM
1. Pray for salvation of small group requests.
2. Personally reach out to my prayer request at least twice a month.
BIBLE MEMORIZATION
1. Memorize Philippians
SERVING
1. Serve someone outside of church once a week.
LEADING MY WIFE
1. Date night once a week.
2. Pray together 5 times a week.
3. Sermon discussion once a week.
LEADING FAMILY
1. Dinner with family 5 nights a week.
2. “Bible quiz” w/ kids 2-3 times a week.
3. Children’s catechism w/ kids 1-2 times a week.
4. Read w/ kids 2-4 times a week.
5. Pray with kids 5 times a week.
Comment by Josh Hanson - Jul 29, 2010 @ 08:05 AM
Jesse, just saw this post in my Google Reader. I had missed it. Thanks for posting this. I really do believe we all need to do a better job of thinking strategically and having a plan for our life. It reduces stress, makes us more effective, and honors God better with our time.
Thanks for your Kingdom work!
Comment by Ron Edmondson - Jul 29, 2010 @ 10:10 AM
Josh, wow! I love your PDP! I’m def taking some notes from your play book.
Ron, thanks for those simple questions about PD. It makes the process less daunting. I wonder if it would help if we had an eBook, step-by-step guide to creating a PDP, if more leaders would then do it? Maybe you can help us create such a resource?
Comment by Jesse Phillips - Jul 29, 2010 @ 10:20 AM
Josh your PDP is very inspiring… Mine is a little less structured. My current plan is an 80 plan leading up to an event (Catalyst to be exact).
It includes:
- list of people I want to connect/re-connect with over the time
- three things I’ve identified as a weakness that I’m working on
- two things I’ve identified as strengths that I’m building on
- a list of practical actions I need to do to get me where I want to be by the end of the 80 days
Simple but it works for me…
Comment by Nikki James - Jul 29, 2010 @ 11:20 AM
You would think those of us who have been in leadership for any length of time would have a plan. I don’t. I love what Ron said here about it reducing stress. When I have a plan I know what to do and when to do it, and It does reduce stress. I am now going to Ron’s site and read his post. Thanks Guys.
Comment by Steve Crenshaw - Jul 29, 2010 @ 11:47 AM
Jesse,
Just saw this post. How incredibly timely. I’m actually walking through this process right now.
For me, my life is so incredibly unstructured. This has its benefits, as people always know that I am available for them. Everything can be shifted for another. The problem is that I can easily continually push things off.
So, while I’m pretty certain that I am not going to be as much structure as Josh, I need a lot more of that.
And the task of structuring my life is very difficult, as I am a big picture person. Getting as much of the vision into bite size pieces is really important for me.
But enough about my philosophy of PDP. What am I actually doing?
I am developing a list of things that I need to be doing on a regular basis. A routine. The routine items are going to go onto a large wall chart, like the ones that kids get to put stickers on. I hate the feeling of having to do something each day, but if I see visually see how my daily activities have a progression, it helps tremendously.
I’m also cutting as much distraction out of my life as possible. I am only allowed to watch tv during certain hours of the day and only for a certain time and only for certain shows. I now have twitter and facebook hidden on my phone. That cuts down on my social tracking to 2 or 3 times a day. My email on my iphone is set to push every 15 or 30 minutes, depending on the days activities, otherwise I will be checking every email as soon as I receive it.
I can’t even begin to tell you know helpful it has been to deal with what I can remove, before I approach what I should be doing.
Finally, I’m in the process of developing a Personal Advisory Board. These are people that I will speak with once a month with a specific intention for each. One will advise on finance. Another will be encouragement. Another still will be spiritual growth. etc.
As a final thought, I am acknowledging that my ideas are a work in progress, and subject to change.
And as a final, final thought (one day I will be a preacher), I am very open to collaborating with anyone who is also walking on this journey.
Peace and love in 2010.
Comment by Michael Dean - Aug 02, 2010 @ 05:02 PM
I am trying to develop a personal plan for my life right now, but it is so hard when life keeps moving. Recently graduated with my masters and then laid off from what I thought was my dream job 6 weeks after starting has doubled an already question filled life. Thanks everyone for laying out your plans, it is encouraging to see everyones work.
Comment by edenpure - Aug 08, 2010 @ 11:53 AM
No. If you are over weight then you cannot complete your enlistment process that time. You will have to come back when you can meet the height and weight standards.
Comment by Pigmentation - Aug 16, 2010 @ 11:27 PM